The official opening of the Cookson Gallery June 1986 was attended by 150 invited guests. Dame Catherine and her husband Tom were overwhelmed by the cheering crowds the lined Ocean Road, South Shields.
Inside the Gallery, she was presented with a bronze sculpture, "The Gambling Man" one of six characters from her books that Bob produced. She said of the sculptures that "of all the times they had been depicted, these were the closest to her characters"
